Our dogged sleuths go to the headquarters customs building at 555 Battery Street near Jackson to complain about the lax inspection that allowed the heroin to get through. The U.S. Custom House, as it is officially named, was built in 1911 at a time when government income was mostly derived from customs revenue prior to the introduction of the income tax in 1913 (map).
Then ... the building is in the Beaux Arts Classicism style and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Then ... the main entrance ...
... and Now, just the same.
Then ... Inside the building, Lt. Guthrie and Inspector Quine enter the office of Chester McPhee, the Collector of Customs.
... and Now , Chester McPhee was indeed the real Collector of Customs at that time and this scene was filmed in his office, No. 321 on the third floor. The recent photo below shows the same wood panelling. Only the lettering on the door glazing has been changed.
Then ... Chester McPhee (Francis De Sales) explains that they lack the staff to check every incoming traveller. We get a better look, below, of the traditional office with its oak-panelled walls and marble fireplace.
... and Now , we can see the office looks the same after all these years. Even the desk and the chair that Quine was sitting on.
The Customs House was seismically renovated in the 1990's, involving stripping all the wall surfaces then replacing them with the original materials. Here's a picture of Chester McPhee's office after it was stripped down.
Trivia note - this office was also used for a scene in the 1983 movie 'The Right Stuff' (below) where the head of Life magazine offers the Gemini astronauts a deal for their story. (Note those same carved wall sconses on either side of the window).
Then ... In that movie, the astronauts were shown, below, in the adjacent office No. 320 after they leave No. 321, visible through the open doorway.
... and Now , room 320 today (below) looks just as it always has.
Miller visits a nearby bar and strikes up a conversation with May Nelson (Marlo Dwyer) who, comfortable with her initial impression, gives him her name and address. But when his conversation grows increasingly bizzare she rebukes him and walks away. Uh-oh.
Then ... We next see her walking unsteadily down a very steep sidewalk - the bar must have closed. She rounds the corner, enters the building and heads up to her second floor corner room. These street names are fictitious - this is actually the corner of Green Street and Montgomery Street on Telegraph Hill.
... and Now, This house is still there, address 301 - 307 Green Street. (map). The exterior has been modified but all the original doors and windows on both streets were serendipitously retained or visibly filled in, allowing the location to be identified.
She fixes herself a drink. A shot rings out and just like that May Nelson becomes the sniper's second victim.
This next scene, supposedly in San Francisco, was filmed in Los Angeles (why?). This location was on a hill - Court Hill in the Bunker Hill neighborhood - destined to be leveled in the 1950s and 1960s for a huge civic redevelopment project.
Then ... Miller is seen walking on Court Street. To get there he has just climbed the steep Court Flight Steps, from Broadway between 1st and Temple streets. Behind him is the old Hall Of Records (torn down in 1979) across Broadway.
... c. 1940 ... this vintage photo shows a wider view looking down the same stretch of Court Street revealing more of the Hall Of Justice with City Hall behind it. The structure at the end of the street is the parking area at the upper terminus of the Court Flight railway, still operational in 1940 but torn down by the time the movie was filmed.
... and Now, Court Street has been eradicated and the hill carted away to make way for this parking lot. City Hall is in the background but the old Hall of Records was torn down in 1979.
in 1954 ... and here, just two years after the movie was filmed, are the Court Flight steps leading up the hill past the Hotel Broadway to Court Street. From 1905 until 1943 the Court Flight funicular railway operated on this hill.
Then ... Miller turns onto Hill Street (atop the Hill Street Tunnel) and watches some kids playing stickball (map). He clumsily returns the ball, interfering with the game, and is rebuked for his efforts. Always the loser, he slinks off crestfallen.
From 'Woman On The Run' ... Interestingly, this exact location was used in the movie Woman On The Run (below). The furthest house, 150 North Hill Street, is the same one seen above and the house at far right is the Harmonia apartment building at 138 North Hill Street.
Fortunately for us a vintage aerial photo exists which captured this location as it was when it was still there...
... in 1924 ... the arrow marks where the stickball game took place, on the Hill Street block above the Hill Street Tunnel (the tunnel's double bore is just left of center at the bottom of the photo). To the right of the arrow are the two houses seen in the screen capture above. The old Hall of Records building is at center right and the Hotel Broadway is dead center, stepping up the slope to Court Street where the Court Flight funicular used to run. Court Street crosses Hill Street just behind the arrow.
So why was this scene filmed in L.A. and not San Francisco? CitySleuth surmises that during editing the director decided to add more illustrative footage of Miller as social misfit. It would be convenient to do it close to home.
Scottie follows Madeleine downtown to the rear entrance of a well-known flower shop, Podesta Baldocchi's. The rear entrance, in an alley, was a figment of Hitchcock's imagination since Podesta Baldocchi did not have one. This is an interesting scene in that two different alleys were used and cleverly edited to appear as one. Here's how it was done ...
Madeleine turns from Grant into a tiny alley alongside the building housing the flowershop. Note the green Podesta Baldocchi vehicles on each side of the road.
... and Now, the alley is Ashburton, a short cul-de-sac across from Campton Place between Sutter and Post (location 1 on this map).
Then ... But when Scottie follows her into the alley, this isn't Ashburton - it's Claude Lane, several blocks away, which runs between Bush and Sutter near Kearny Street (location 2 on the same map). Scottie parks and watches Madeleine enter the rear entrance.
... and Now, Claude Lane today is usually a busy alley with restaurants and boutiques but CitySleuth stopped by on a holiday and found it deserted.
But as Scottie gets out of his car to follow her, this is back in Ashburton! That's Grant Avenue crossing behind him.
Then ... and when he follows her into the flower shop, we are back in Claude Lane. Another alley was presumably used because Ashburton, next to the flower shop, was a short cul-de-sac unsuitable for the rest of the action.
... in 2004 ... the first doorway on the left, below, by then bricked up, was the one used for Podesta Baldocchi's rear entrance. This was the back door of the business at 239 Kearny. Sutter Street crosses at the bottom of the alley.
... and Now, the trendy restaurant Gitane has been at this site since 2008. The colorful mural still reveals faint outlines of the original doorway and window openings. (The same drainpipe on the left is a frame of reference for comparing these last three images).